Breakfast

I absolutely love a good blueberry muffin with a huge cup of coffee in the morning. The trouble is, who wants to stand in line at a bakery to get one? I surely don't. I prefer to make mine at home where I can not only control the ingredients, but also be able to not have to change out of my pajamas to enjoy one!

One of my most favorite combinations to bake with is blueberries and lemons. They go together like peanut butter and chocolate, peanut butter and jelly, cheesecake and wine..... Ok....maybe the cheesecake and wine thing is just me. What I'm trying to say is, blueberries and lemons go together so well, and can be used in many various dishes. Today, I combined them in this absolutely delicious blueberry breakfast cake.

Now, this cake is not like typical cake in the fact that it is not sticky sweet. There is just a hint of sweetness, but it is not overpowering. In fact, a stack of pancakes with maple syrup is sweeter than this. I enjoyed mine this morning with a cup of hot English breakfast tea, and it was quite satisfactory.

How to make it:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter with the lemon zest and sugar until fluffy.

2. Add in the egg and vanilla, then beat until combined.

3. Toss the blueberries with 1/4 cup of flour, and set aside.

4. Whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder, and salt.

5. Mix the flour into the butter mixture, a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk.

6. Gently fold in the blueberries.

7. Grease a 9x9 baking dish with butter, and pour in the batter. Spread it evenly, and bake for roughly 35 minutes. Check for doneness using a toothpick or cake tester. If the center is not done, return it to the oven for another 5 minutes, the recheck.

I love cinnamon rolls. I also love pancakes. What could be better than combining the two into these absolutely wonderful cinnamon roll pancakes? Top a stack of these off with a cream cheese glaze, and you'll hardly want a plain pancake ever again.

How to make it:
1. The cinnamon swirl filling takes a few minutes to firm up, so we need to make it first. In a medium-sized bowl, combine all of the filling ingredients and stir well. Pour this into a plastic sandwich baggie and set it to the side for roughly 20 minutes. It won't work if it is in a liquid state, and needs to firm up just a little.

2. Now we'll make the pancakes. In a medium-sized bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients.

3. In a small bowl, combine all of the liquid ingredients. Gently whisk this mixture into the dry ingredients until just a few small lumps remain.

4. Now, let's make the glaze. In a small bowl, heat the cream cheese and butter together in the microwave until melted. Stir until smooth, then add in the vanilla and powdered sugar.

5. Heat your griddle to 350 degrees, or your skillet over medium/low heat. Very lightly grease with oil or butter.

6. Pour some batter onto the griddle. Snip off a corner of the baggie that contains the cinnamon mixture, and gently squeeze it out into a spiral shape on the pancake. DO NOT get this too close to the edge of your pancake, or it will run everywhere and make a big mess.

7. Cook until bubbles appear on the surface (about 3 minutes), then gently flip and cook for another minute.